Popular enterprise architecture frameworks like TOGAF and ArchiMate each provide meta models, but none are broad enough to fully support strategic planning, contextual analysis, and business architecture alongside risk, change, and programme management in an integrated way. This paper describes the development of HAL2023 — an updated version of the Inspired Holistic Architecture Language — synthesising concepts from TOGAF 10, ArchiMate 3.2, BizBOK 11, SABSA, MEMO, and the Inspired consulting practice into a single, coherent meta model validated across multiple industries. It addresses not only what the model contains, but how it can be practically applied without overwhelming practitioners.
Extending and Automating Maturity Models for More Value
Maturity models are widely used for organisational self-assessment, but their value is often limited to producing a score. This paper argues that far greater value is achievable by extending models to include prioritised recommendations and action planning — and by automating the whole process to remove the friction that discourages use. Drawing on the development of a generic domain model implemented in the EVA platform, it demonstrates how a range of maturity models can be rapidly deployed, assessed, scored, and translated into actionable improvement plans with minimal custom code.
A Method Engineering Workbench on the EVA Platform
Most organisations document their development methods in wikis and Word documents — producing sprawling, inconsistent, and poorly connected artefacts that practitioners ignore or work around. This paper describes a goal-driven method engineering workbench built on the EVA platform, developed in response to exactly this problem at a large financial services organisation. By grounding methods in agreed goals rather than prescribed tasks, and delivering them through a single-page interactive portal, the approach makes method content genuinely accessible, maintainable, and tailorable to project type and practitioner role.
Agility is a Stable Requirement
Agile methods have delivered real value in accelerating software delivery, but they address only a fraction of what organisational agility actually requires — and even within IT, speed of delivery is just one dimension. This white paper argues for a broader framework built around three complementary strategies: doing less (leveraging packages, components, and reference models); doing things faster (Agile, DevOps, automation); and making more flexible things (runtime-adaptable and domain model-driven systems). It also tackles the challenge of achieving agility in organisations burdened with large legacy application landscapes.
Function Modelling Explained: From Mission to Capabilities via Goals, Processes and Services
Function modelling is one of the most versatile and underused techniques in enterprise architecture — a hierarchical decomposition from mission to activities that brings clarity to scope, responsibility, and design. This white paper introduces function modelling and shows how it connects to goal modelling, process analysis, service design, and capability definition, providing a unified picture of how these paradigms relate and reinforce each other. It is a practical guide for architects, analysts, and anyone trying to make sense of what an organisation does and how to design what it should do next.
A Business and Solution Building Block Approach to EA Project Planning
Enterprise architecture programmes frequently struggle with scope confusion, misaligned stakeholder expectations, and poor traceability between business requirements and delivery plans. This paper presents a building block approach — distinguishing Business Building Blocks (capabilities) from Solution Building Blocks (systems and technologies) — developed and validated on a multi-project transformation programme at a rapidly expanding South African telecoms company. The result was dramatically improved communication between sponsors, stakeholders, programme managers, and development teams, and a shared, navigable picture of what would be delivered, when, and in what sequence.
Understanding and Improving Your Value Chain: A Practical Guide for Enterprise Architects
Value chain analysis is one of the most powerful starting points in enterprise architecture and business process improvement — but getting real analytical value from it requires going well beyond a Porter diagram on a whiteboard. This white paper covers the full value chain toolkit: core concepts, reference models (including SCOR and VRM), a structured approach to documenting and analysing each value chain step, and a practical framework for deciding between incremental improvement and radical redesign. It is a hands-on reference for architects and business analysts working on process improvement, operating model design, or strategic transformation.
An Inspired Approach to Business Architecture
Most enterprise architecture frameworks treat business architecture as little more than context for IT decisions — leaving out competitors, markets, culture, partners, products, ethics, and organisational design. This white paper sets out Inspired's broader definition: the design of a desirable future state of the enterprise, informed by all its relevant dimensions and underpinned by a comprehensive, integrative meta model. It covers scope, techniques, method tailoring, the Holistic Architecture Language (HAL), and the tools and training that bring the approach to life.
The Difference Between Process Architecture and Process Modeling (and why you should care)
Process modelling initiatives frequently consume months of effort without producing meaningful results — often because teams dive into detailed models before anyone understands the big picture. This paper argues for a clear separation between process architecture (a rapid, high-level view of what processes exist, who they serve, and how they connect) and detailed process modelling and design, while keeping both perspectives fully integrated. Drawing on case studies from financial services organisations, it shows how this approach can cut project time dramatically and produce models that business stakeholders actually engage with.
Managing Large-Scale Collaborative Modelling: Meta Model Extensions for Enterprise Architecture Tools
As enterprise architecture initiatives grow to span multiple teams, geographies, and time zones, the repositories and tools supporting them face real challenges: information overload, ownership conflicts, version management, and the need to present different views to different user communities. This paper formalises a set of meta model and meta-meta model extensions — including context, domains, filters, versioning, and scenarios — developed through real-world deployment of a collaborative EA modelling platform. The result is a more manageable, flexible, and scalable foundation for large-scale collaborative architecture work.